Raising The Roof On The Voodoo Lounge

  Many moons ago I was involved with a timber operation in the remote wild lands of Central America. My accommodation during this adventure had gone from the front seats of vehicles, a hammock hung in the jungle, to a musty smelling tent. Things progressed along and it was decided the time had come to move up in the world, plans were drawn up on a notepad one night and some of the guys were put to work on a cabin located in a quiet corner off by itself.

 The timber was cut ourselves of course, and I recall it took under a week to get to the point of being ready for a roof. We used local materials when possible, and a native style thatch roof was the logical choice.

 Mendoza was the diplomatic jungle foreman, under his supervision a crew were dispatched to the woods to collect thatch palm.

 Bundles were stockpiled back at camp.

 Several of the most experienced hands were sent up to weave the palms into the roof structure.

Jose was a good man around camp, he was put to work cutting discs off of logs to be set in the ground as a walkway. I had seen this done at some resorts down there.

The completed structure, the Voodoo Lounge as it became known. Residence upstairs with a commanding view of the camp from the veranda, an office on the lower level, and just a short walk over to the cook shack. It was pretty bare bones in there, just a bed, with a wooden frame built over it to hold a mosquito net and a wooden crate or two for furniture. Note the log paving rounds Jose and his helper did. Someone suggested, it could have been me, to incorporate a skylight over my bed, just to make sure I didn't sleep in or something. Sounded like a good idea and with no little amount of effort a clear panel was procured from a distant city on the Caribbean coast and installed in the roof as the thatch was going on, and as far as I know may have been the first time a skylight was incorporated in a native thatch palm roof.

 Neither the skylight, or the thatch ever leaked a drop, even in the rainy season.

Dear Deer

    All the years I've been out here I've always had various deer that hang around, at various times of the year. All the clover and grass I've planted and maintain around here probably has something to do with it.

I keep a salt lick block across the lawn on a rock under the cedar.

 Sheltered from the rain for the most part, a new salt lick will last over a year out there. 

Note the blue stained rock from probably 15 of them over the years.

During the lush Spring season they don't seem to mind sharing their pasture with the bear. 

I took this off the deck one June, note the smoke from the trees down at the far end, down in the hot spring campsite. If you look close, there are two people standing down there, probably taking a picture of a bear and a deer standing in front of a cabin.

Smart deer.

There was this extra smart deer one Summer a few years back, a doe of course. 

It would wander in during the heat of the day and stand there in the arc of my lawn sprinkler getting pelted by water every time it came around. It would give a big shake and wait patiently for it to come around again.

 

The next year, she brought her young one in and showed it where to find rain on a hot day.

This is a trio that stayed with me for a week once.

 I called them Larry, Moe, and Curly.

They would come up to the cabin, intrigued by my cats at the time, Skook and Chuk, under the porch steps in this case, who seemed every bit as interested in them.

                               Hey deers!

A few years back some elk had been reintroduced several mountain ranges away.
I know that at least one has made his way down here and beyond to the south.

Always Something.

There is no shortage of things to do around here let me tell you.
The old decking and associated walk ways down at the hot spring have been there for quite a number of years, and keeping up with replacing broken and worn boards is a constant thing. When I can fit it into my lax schedule sometimes I go down there and do some maintenance. That wore out old ramp up into the A-frame came up on the list this summer.

A quick trip over to the lumber pile and I was in business.

This time I had the luxury of building one in the shop, out of the sun and away from the bugs. It came all apart again so I could haul it down to the hot spring.

The old ramp was added to the A-frame when I built it back in 1996.

A quick pass from stem to stern with the chainsaw reduced it to manageable pieces. Joey showed up to see what was going on...

...and was immediately put to work. We hauled out the old ramp and left it for the campers to break up and burn, once the fire ban is lifted that is.

Some assembly required. Hows that go again?...

A little shovel work here and there...

A cinder block here and there...

A level?... that's a first.

A whole bunch of screws.

Slam bam. One nearly instant wheelchair accessible ramp into the A-frame tub.


There was a galvanised tub put in two years ago that has not stood up very well to the hot spring water and rusted through on the bottom.

I finally gave up on it and rolled it out.

I wheeled it up into the back of the pickup and hauled it to the bone yard. Something else will take it's place.

Its not unusual to have to send down the service vehicle to deal with buggered tubs.

I often leave my generator and tools there overnight while the fiberglass sets, no one ever buggers with my stuff.